Nearly 1,000 people were detained across France on Saturday as more than 410,000 protesters, about 110,000 of them in Paris, marched over living costs, education and youth jobs, the Interior Ministry said.
The second weekend of the Paris and France protests was markedly calmer than the first, though police clashed with demonstrators in the capital, Marseille and Bordeaux, CNN reported. Organizers' next test is November 5, when far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said nationwide industrial action will take place if President Emmanuel Macron does not respond to protesters' demands.
The unrest is not confined to France. Anti-government demonstrations also took place on Saturday in Italy, Albania and Belgium, according to CNN.
Why is France protesting?
Protesters have been calling for greater investment in the country's education system, more opportunities for young workers and solutions to surging living costs, CNN reported. Its report did not identify a single policy or event that set off the wave of demonstrations.
Saturday was the second round of protests. More than half a million people took to the streets across France the previous Saturday, a weekend marked by more widespread looting and targeted attacks on public buildings such as town halls and police stations.
The Interior Ministry said the Paris turnout this weekend was roughly the same as a week earlier.
Authorities prepared for a repeat of that violence. Some 70,000 police officers were mobilized nationwide, the ministry said, and specialist SWAT units, helicopters, armored vehicles, police dogs and water cannon were at the ready, according to CNN.
Paris demonstrations end in clashes at Porte de Vincennes
The march through Paris was peaceful until it reached its endpoint at the Porte de Vincennes. There, a crowd of several thousand protesters confronted police, who used tear gas and a water cannon to block them, according to a CNN team at the scene.
In Marseille, France's second city, protesters launched mortar fireworks toward police during running street skirmishes, CNN's French affiliate BFMTV reported. BFMTV also reported looting in various parts of the city, including a jewelry store with smashed windows and a supermarket that was pillaged.
In Bordeaux, on the Atlantic coast, images showed tear gas being used against protesters in the Place de la Bourse, CNN reported. Videos showed some masked protesters hurling objects at police as the gas drifted across the square.
In Nice, dozens of far-right activists attacked people who were protesting peacefully, BFMTV reported.
Interior minister reports "no targeted attacks" but high violence
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered a mixed assessment of the day. "In Paris, we had a major demonstration that took place peacefully, like most protest marches across the entire country," he told reporters.
Nuñez said police had restricted where demonstrators could go. "They were prevented from staging unauthorized roving protests or heading toward city centers," he said.
"In certain cities there was some damage or looting of businesses, in very limited numbers," Nuñez added, describing the damage as far less than a week earlier. He said there had been "no targeted attacks" on public buildings such as town halls and police stations, unlike the previous weekend.
Even so, Nuñez said security forces had faced an "extremely high level of violence," with projectiles constantly thrown and mortar fireworks fired. He said officers would stay deployed until very late on Saturday evening to guard against looting.
The ministry put the number of people detained nationwide at nearly 1,000. CNN's report did not say how many would face charges.
France general strike on November 5 depends on Macron's response
Mélenchon, leader of the far-left party La France Insoumise, spoke to BFMTV from the front line of Saturday's march in Paris. "A general strike… looms over the government for the 5th of November," he said.
He warned that the nationwide industrial action would go ahead if Macron does not respond to the protesters' demands. CNN's report did not include any response from the president or his office.
Protests spread to Italy, Albania and Belgium
Demonstrations were held in several other European countries on Saturday, CNN reported:
- Italy: Stores in Naples, Rome and Milan boarded up their windows ahead of planned protests, after looting at earlier demonstrations.
- Albania: Protesters in the capital, Tirana, set fire to dumpsters and threw stones and tear gas canisters.
- Belgium: In Brussels, students held up placards and barricaded streets, and police deployed a water cannon, according to the public broadcaster VRT.
Two questions are unresolved: whether protesters will return for a third weekend, and whether Macron will answer their demands before the strike deadline Mélenchon set for November 5.